Chapter 34 Summary

"Unknown Country"

The narrative returns to the present, when Tom Crick returns home to find his 52 year old wife Mary in the possession of a baby - "Madonna and Child"- a baby that Mary says she got from God. Tom tells his wife that the baby must be returned at once, and they engage in a tugging match for the child. Tom Crick refers to himself first as a shepherd (as at the Nativity) and then as a ruthless Herod (killer of the children in Christ's time). Mary confesses that she took the baby from a grocery store while unattended.

Chapter 34 Analysis

This chapter is rich in biblical references - the second virgin birth in Mary's life. Mary sees herself as having been directed by God to take this child. Crick contrasts the need for God as being restricted to backwards people...